Bible
thoughts on “Jesus Loves You…” by Craig Gross and Jason Harper – PART 3
Feb 13th
I find myself wanting to advocate justice for the hurting and pronouncing judgment on the religious. in this, i have become the very thing i despise… I am quick to offer grace to the rebellious and wayward. but i am slow in offering to the religious, if i offer it at all. yet i must.
I see this… in me.
We are never going to be friends or hang out with everyone we come across… some people just shouldn’t be together – whether because of past history, wrongs committed against each other, just can’t get along, or whatever else; there are people in my life that I just needed to leave behind and break relationship with and vice versa for one reason or another, and I would imagine that is the case in almost everyone’s life…
… but if you are a Christian, how do we still go in Christ’s commands to love God, your neighbor, your enemy, your brothers and sisters in Christ?
As much as I have tried to orient myself to live a life of grace and love towards people, I have had very little tolerance for those who are judgmental, or those who spend hours upon hours writing or speaking about how the culture around us is the biggest problem in life, how America should be changed back to a Christian nation (whatever that means) or what movies/TV shows/books Christians should see/read, or what author/pastor/church member are heretics, who put their trust in changing people and the culture around them through politics and laws – or who inevitably link Christianity to being an American/being a Republican, etc…
So, I just aired my “crap” list and nullified my whole message, huh? 
And there’s the point… we all do this. That list is still probably a short list of those I judge or have judged with an un-Christlike heart and mind… and I am wrong - I am the very thing that I dislike! “We” are wrong. It’s not that we shouldn’t discern against things we shouldn’t watch, or desire to see a Nation (or every Nation if we are to take the “Great Commandment“) of people seek and respond to Christ’s love and in turn with His help, change those things that are not best for us in our lives (as Penn said – “If you think you have the Truth and don’t share it, how much do you hate me” to paraphrase).
As Christians…
thoughts on “Jesus Loves You…” by Craig Gross and Jason Harper – PART 2
Feb 11th
I find it interesting and completely hypocritical that some yell the loudest about this area of culture, all the while ignoring other blatant cultural atrocities. Why pick on this sin as opposed to others? I have never seen picket signs and petitions protesting overeating or gossip or adultery.
Most won’t find it too shocking to learn that the “area of culture” Craig is referring to here is the homosexual community. I think if we are honest, we could say that the Christian community as a whole has been mean, uncaring, unloving and quite un-Christlike towards the homosexual community – regardless of our differences or beliefs. I do think Craig is right in this, we have picked on this more than anything else (outside of the abortion issue) for awhile now. I too, have yet to see someone picket overeating, gossip, adultery, speaking truth without love, pride, etc… is that because those are less grievous in our “sin” ranking system?
There is a way to disagree (right now at least) and hold the views that we do without being unloving, disrespectful, hateful, etc… I believe we are called to be different in how we respond and treat people – I’m afraid we have credited the reactions of people too often to persecution or not liking our beliefs, and not enough to a response to the lack of respect and love we show to others. Sure, there are some that don’t like the beliefs that we hold from the Bible or don’t buy into God/Jesus… there will always be that. I’m just not sure it ever excuses us from treating others with respect and love, not with malice and prideful judgment as if we somehow merit more of God’s love than someone else… we’ve all been invited to a party, a life, that we did not earn no matter how well you think you live.
He said that i, as a pastor, would be more embraced by the porn industry than he would be at a church… ‘My world loved you more than your world loves me.’ sad, but true.
These two comments came from Ron Jeremy, the Porn King. Is there some truth to this? I think there is. Craig talks a lot about how skeptical those in the porn industry have been of him and the XXXChurch, but he has still found this to be more true in his world. They have been far more respectful, open to discussion, willing to share deep and personal information and take a look at Craig’s message of Jesus’ love and grace for them – than Ron has experienced with many Christians.
It is easy to group people as a whole, and I know many Christians/Churches who would welcome someone like Ron Jeremy in and be Jesus to him. And I know there will be some who want nothing to do with God or what Craig/XXXChurch are doing and saying. But since I follow Jesus, my focus is on our response as Christians to those who have not bought into the whole God/Jesus thing (for whatever reason).
Truly think about it… How would you respond if Ron Jeremy showed up to your church, small group, sunday school, home church, outreach event, singles group, etc…
Ok, so you think you can stomach it (as if that’s all we are called to do… stomach it…)
What if…
…President Obama walked in. I’ve seen many of my facebook friends wish for his personal (not just political) demise, or he be shipped off to Haiti, or even wish for God to take him too like Michael Jackson or Farrah Faucet. Oh, many times in joking, of course… Most would at least show respect for his position, but what about him as a human – just like you or me. There’s a big difference between disagreeing with his policies or direction, and tearing down and wishing ill on a another human being and his family…
… how about if Adam Lambert showed up. Saw the boards light up last year with praise to God for “making” Adam lose American Idol because he’s gay, even though his More >
thoughts on “Jesus Loves You…” by Craig Gross and Jason Harper – PART 1
Feb 8th
Doesn’t matter what you do or who you are: Jesus. Loves. You.
And there’s the summery of the book. See ya!!
Just kidding… well in a way I am. I wanted to pull a few quotes and thoughts from the book I liked (and make a few comments if needed), but essentially that is it – Jesus Loves You (hence the title ).
The book is broken up into 10 chapters, or the stories of 10 different types of people the authors are with. They tell stories of their relationships with each type of person and why Jesus loves them (they do say over and over that Jesus loves everyone, it just so happens that the book takes a look at these 10 types specifically). Here’s the stories/chapters…
- Jesus Loves the:
- …Bitter and Betrayed
- … the Disconnected
- … Broken
- … Forgotten
- … Skeptic
- … Glutton
- … Crook
- … Outcast
- … Porn Star
- … Religious
After finishing the book one of my first thoughts was… “in the circles I grew up in and still to this day somewhat hang out in – many of them would think that there is More >
Jesus Creed Blog: “Friday is for Friends: Rachel Held Evans”
Nov 11th
Image via Wikipedia
My friend Kevin sent me a guest post by Rachel Held Evans on Scot McKnights blog, “Jesus Creed“.
Interesting post, that I’ll copy below. But I was also intrigued by a comment made by Bob Smallman about her post. Here’s what he wrote:
Along these lines is a comment by Rebecca Manley Pippert that I came across some years ago: “Jesus always seemed to be doing two things: asking questions and telling stories. Christians always seem to be doing two other things: giving answers and ‘preaching.’ “All four are necessary — at the right time and in the right place. But we tend to forget that the God of the Bible was an extraordinary communicator; we ignore Jesus’ example of how to start conversation, and we jump in prematurely with answers and sermonettes before the listener’s curiosity is aroused.”
What are you thoughts/initial reaction to this comment? Do you agree with his assertion that Jesus spent more time asking questions and telling stories; while Christians give answers and preach more? Are all four necessary, or do we only need a few now? Other observations?
To keep the comments in context, here is Rachel’s post (there is also a link to it on the “Jesus Creed” page hosted by Beliefnet.com”:
Friday is for Friends: Rachel Held Evans
Friday November 6, 2009
Categories: Bible
Hello, my name is Rachel, and I’m a recovering Bible snob.
I haven’t always been this way. As a child, the stories of the Bible enthralled me. I believed in them the way one believes in dinosaurs, Camelot, Abraham Lincoln, and other magical things that happened once upon a time.
As a teenager, the Bible evolved into a collection of affirmations designed to ease my angst-riddled existence (a hermeneutical shortcut Scot refers to as “morsels of blessings and promises” in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible
), and in college, it served as my favorite answer book (Scot’s “big puzzle” shortcut).
How has your approach to the Bible changed over the years? Have you ever found yourself behaving like a Bible snob? How do you engage Scripture analytically without losing your childlike fondness for its stories?
It wasn’t until my early twenties that I began wrestling with the blue parakeets–those troublesome passages of Scripture that didn’t fit my theological grid, that seemed primitive and suspicious in light of modern science, that bothered my conscience, or that appeared contradictory. I went from loving the Bible to hating it for all the doubts it raised in my mind.
Thankfully, and by the grace of God, I learned to read the Bible in a new way. With the help folks like Scot, N.T. Wright, and Eugene Peterson, I began to think of the Bible as a collection of stories, stories that God uses to tell a grand Story in a variety of ways and expressions. Because language is always shaped by context, God spoke in Moses’ days in Moses’ ways, in Jesus’ days in Jesus’ ways, and in Paul’s days in Paul’s way. This approach–(what Scot refers to as the “Wiki-story” approach)–helped me make peace with the Bible.
But there was one problem.
It seemed I had very little patience for folks who read the Bible differently than I did.
“He’s reading WAY too much into the relationship between Adam and Eve,” I’d think to myself during a wedding ceremony. “She did NOT just More >
